Fashion and Textile Museum

The Fashion and Textile Museum is a cutting edge centre for contemporary fashion, textiles and jewellery in London. Founded by iconic British designer Zandra Rhodes, the centre showcases a programme of changing exhibitions exploring elements of fashion, textile and jewellery as well as the Academy which runs courses for creative students and businesses.

Situated in the heart of fashionable Bermondsey Village, in a fantastic building designed by Mexican architect Ricardo Legorreta, the FTM aims not just to display and collect items relating to fashion, jewellery and textile design, but to offer inspiration to a new generation of creatives. Now redeveloped and operated by Newham College, the museum is a hub of learning, ideas and networking for the fashion and jewellery industry.

Discounts

National Art Pass

International Council of Museums

Museums Association

Getting there

London Underground: London Bridge on the Northern and Jubilee Lines.Due to roadworks in the London Bridge area, please use the Tooley Street exit from the station. Bermondsey Street turns off Tooley Street to the right.

Mainline Rail: London Bridge

Additional info

All areas of the FTM are accessible by level access or by lift. Wheelchair accessible toilets are located on the ground floor of the Museum.

Collection details

Costume and Textiles, Design

Key artists and exhibits

The Glamour of Bellville Sassoon: 20th September 2013 - 11th January 2014

Artist Textiles Matisse to Warhol: 31st January - 17th May 2014

Exhibition details are listed below, you may need to scroll down to see them all.

Exhibition (temporary)

JAMES ABBE Photographer of the Jazz Age

23 September 2016 — 15 January 2017 *on now

From Hollywood to the Folies Bergère, the glittering stars of the 1920s stage and screen are celebrated in this display of portraits by James Abbe.

With perfect posture and knowing smiles, these magically-lit studies provide a candid commentary on early 20th century celebrity. Abbe (1883–1973) began his career in New York, moving to Paris in the 1920s.

He produced many iconic images from the world of entertainment, making portraits in his studio and on location for key movies and stage productions featuring Lillian Gish, Dorothy Gish and Fred and Adele Astaire. Other fashion studies show Gilda Gray, the Dolly Sisters and Louise Brooks.

Curated by renowned photo historian Terence Pepper with the James Abbe Archive, the selection adds valuable context to the garments on display.

Website

1920s JAZZ AGE Fashion & Photographs

23 September 2016 — 15 January 2017 *on now

The 1920s JAZZ AGE exhibition presents a glittering display of haute couture and ready-to-wear fashion from 1919 to 1929.

Women’s clothing in the 1920s reflected dizzying social change on an unprecedented scale. From Paris and London to New York and Hollywood, the decade following the Great War offered the modern woman a completely new style of dressing. With over 150 garments, this stunning selection of sportswear, printed day dresses, fringed flapper dresses, beaded evening wear, velvet capes, and silk pyjamas reveals the glamour, excess, frivolity and modernity of the decade.

Colourful illustrations by Gordon Conway from the Illustrated London News Archive at Mary Evans and photographs by Abbe, Beaton, Man Ray, and Baron de Meyer highlight the role of photographs and magazines in promoting the 1920s look.

Admission

Website

JOSEF FRANK Patterns–Furniture–Painting

28 January — 7 May 2017

Explore the work of designer and artist Josef Frank (1885-1967) in the first-ever UK exhibition of his textiles.

The Austrian-born architect moved to Sweden in 1933, where he developed his colourful brand of modernism, working with Estrid Ericson on furniture, glassware, lighting and interior design ideas. Together they redefined what is regarded as Swedish Modern.

This exhibition in association with Millesgården, Stockholm highlights Frank’s vibrant fabric designs for Svenskt Tenn alongside a number of his previously unknown watercolours.

Admission

Website

Events details are listed below. You may need to scroll down or click on headers to see them all. For events that don't have a specific date see the 'Resources' tab above.

Workshop, club or activity

Learn to Knit: Spiral Scarf

15 December 2016

With the guidance of expert knitter and tutor Sandra Monks, in this two hour session you will learn to begin the scarf and create the spiral effect. By the end of the session, you will be well on your way to completing the finished article with the confidence and know-how to finish the scarf at home. Full instructions, a pair of knitting needles and yarn are provided though feel free to bring your own if you have a particular colour in mind. Suggested yarn is lightweight Aran, Drops Big Merino, and you will need 4x50g balls. The class includes admission to the 1920s Jazz Age exhibition and is taught to a small group providing one-to-one attention.

Suitable for

Admission

Website

1920s Boudoir Doll Workshop

6 — 7 January 2017

Popular throughout the Jazz Age, boudoir dolls were fashionable accessories for a woman’s bedroom. Designed for display, these flapper dolls were also known as French dolls and bed dolls. They usually had painted facial features, cloth bodies and elongated legs and were dressed in beautifully-made clothing to reflect the latest trends, film stars or historical fancy dress.

At this two-day workshop you will make your very own boudoir doll under the guidance of an expert seamstress. Working with a bespoke mini couture kit from The Doll Collective, you will construct your doll from a 1920s pattern printed on quality cotton in England. Your character is then ready to be brought to life with a couture outfit. Follow the suggested patterns or let your imagination run wild with inspiration from the 1920s Jazz Age exhibition. There are lots of opportunities for customisation as you imagine your character’s personality, place in life and wardrobe, whether for sport, high tea or jazz dancing.

Suitable for

16-17

18+

14-15

Admission

£200 The 2-day workshop price includes The Doll Collective kit (RRP £59.99), stuffing, dress pattern, high-quality fabrics, embellishments and 1920s Jazz Age exhibition entry on both days. Participants are more than welcome to bring their own embellishments and special pieces of fabric.

Website

Debutantes and the London Season

11 January 2017

Until the middle of the last century, London’s social calendar was dominated by ‘the Season’, a round of social events and parties during which the daughters of the upper classes made their ‘debuts’. Debutantes and their families descended on the capital from all over Britain to take part in this elaborate process that in its blend of glamour, archaic and sometimes comic ritual is emblematic of a world now lost. From the preparations and formalities of court presentation to the exhausting round of parties that followed, Luci Gosling provides a detailed look at a phenomenon that was central to the lives of generations of privileged young ladies. Highlights include How to be a Debutante, the workings of the Royal Court and dancing and romancing in the 1920s.

Where

Fashion & Textile Museum83 Bermondsey StreetLondonSE1 3XF

Admission

Exhibition tickets: £9.90 adults* / £7.70 concessions* / £6 students

Website

Tartan and Tweed

2 February 2017 6-8pm

Both tweed and tartan are fabrics with a strong cultural identity and history, but have been reinvented to create multiple meanings, particularly when used in street fashions and in haute couture to mimic or parody the aristocracy, and to act as a subversive symbol of rebellion.

This illustrated lecture focuses on fashion over the last century whilst looking back at the journey these fabrics have made from traditional cloth to stylish fabrics. The talk also investigates the use of tartan and tweed in fashion in the collections of leading designers including Vivienne Westwood, Alexander McQueen and Chanel who have used these textiles in a fresh, subversive way, while also paying tribute to their history. Making use of first person sources, historic documents, paintings and fashion photographs, this is a complete overview of tartan and tweed in Scotland and beyond.

Where

Fashion & Textile Museum83 Bermondsey StreetLondonSE1 3XF

Admission

Price £15 / £12 students includes a complimentary drink and exhibition entry.

Website

Tartan and Tweed

2 February 2017 6-8pm

This illustrated lecture focuses on fashion over the last century whilst looking back at the journey these fabrics have made from traditional cloth to stylish fabrics. The talk also investigates the use of tartan and tweed in fashion in the collections of leading designers including Vivienne Westwood, Alexander McQueen and Chanel who have used these textiles in a fresh, subversive way, while also paying tribute to their history. Making use of first person sources, historic documents, paintings and fashion photographs, this is a complete overview of tartan and tweed in Scotland and beyond.

Admission

Price £15 / £12 students includes a complimentary drink and exhibition entry.

Website

Dutch Wax Textiles

Hear the amazing story of how Dutch and English machine-made copies of Indonesian Batik, destined for the South-East Asian market in 1900, became an unexpected success on the West Coast of Africa.

There, these copies of batik got a new identity. Today, over 100 years later, many of these designs are still in print and have become an archetype of African dress and cultural heritage. Vlisco, a Dutch company founded in 1846, continues to produce high quality ‘Dutch Wax’ fabric and their classic designs, created at the turn of the 20th century, still represent 80% of their sales. Dutch Wax prints are also popular with contemporary fashion designers and have formed a crucial element in the work of contemporary artist Yinka Shonibare. They were also used to spectacular effect on an episode of the BBC Great British Sewing Bee in 2016.

Dutch textile historian Helen Elands presents new research drawing on Dutch, English and Swiss archives to reconstruct the story of these designs – from the original collections, their export to West Africa and their recognition by the local clientele. She details the role played by the Dutch company directed by J.B.T. Previnaire, known as the Haarlemsche Katoen Maatschappij (Haarlem Cotton Company – HKM), as well as the British merchant Ebenezer Brown Fleming, who first introduced the wax prints of HKM to the West-African market. They became an immediate success in West-Africa, where they were not compared with the original batiks, but appreciated for their own character and outstanding quality. Brown Fleming also – unlike his competitors – added designs and motifs to the taste of the African patronage. Hundreds of cloth samples in perfect condition, even from the very first period have been found, to provide a compelling visual history, and Elands compares the original textile prints with more recent prints of the same design.

Helen Elands is a leading textile historian and author. She is an expert on the European production and export of wax prints to West-Africa and is currently developing a major exhibition on the subject with the art historian and curator Paul Faber. In the 1980s, under her maiden name Helen Boterenbrood she worked with Weverij De Ploeg in Bergeijk, the Netherlands to create a company archive of cloth, sample books and promotional material, and later as head of product presentation and public relations for the business. Her books and exhibitions include Weverij de Ploeg 1923-1957, (Dutch Textile Museum Tilburg 1984), Weverij De Ploeg (Rotterdam), 14 ontwerpen voor Weverij De Ploeg (Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam 1989).

The event starts at 6pm with a glass of wine in the Museum foyer and opportunity to view the exhibition Josef Frank: Patterns – Furniture – Painting; the talk follows at 6.15pm for 6.20pm in the Fashion Studio and lasts for approximately one hour including the chance to ask questions at the end. Ticket includes admission to the exhibition and guests are welcome to view this before or after the talk.

Price £15 / £12 students includes a complimentary drink and exhibition entry.

Suitable for

Any age

Admission

Price £15 / £12 students includes a complimentary drink and exhibition entry.

Website

William Morris Textiles: Now and Then

16 March 2017 6-8pm

In this fascinating talk Jenny Lister describes the collection of Morris’ work at the Victoria and Albert Museum. She highlights the important role May Morris played in securing her father’s legacy, as well as the different ways that 21st century curators, historians and commercial partners are using the collection today.

Where

Fashion & Textile Museum83 Bermondsey StreetLondonSE1 3XF

Admission

Price £15 / £12 students includes a complimentary drink and exhibition entry.

Website

Getting there

London Underground: London Bridge on the Northern and Jubilee Lines.Due to roadworks in the London Bridge area, please use the Tooley Street exit from the station. Bermondsey Street turns off Tooley Street to the right.

Website

E-mail

Telephone

020 7407 8664

All information is drawn from or provided by the venues themselves and every effort is made to ensure it is correct. Please remember to double check opening hours with the venue concerned before making a special visit.

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